At the G20 Summit held in Rome on 31 October 2021, Indonesia will officially assume leadership the G20 group for the first time since its formation in 1999. Through its year-long Presidency of the G20 and hosting of the G20 Summit 2022, Indonesia is ready to lead by example and lead the way out of the pandemic era.
Indonesia will hold G20 Presidency from 1 December 2021 to 30 November 2022. The guiding ethos of this period has already been confirmed as Recover Together, Recover Stronger. “This theme is motivated by Indonesia’s vision to prioritise partnership and inclusiveness to encourage a strong and sustainable world economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi following a government meeting last month.
The G20 Summit and its activities will be built around two pillars, namely the Finance Pillar, which will discuss economic, financial, fiscal and monetary issues; and the Sherpa Pillar, which deals with topics like energy, development, tourism, the digital economy, education, energy, work, agriculture, trade, investment, industry, health, anti-corruption, environment and climate change. Each pillar will be a rallying point for meetings between world leaders, to discuss policy, investment and reform based around shared responsibilities and geared towards collective action.
Indonesia’s tourism sector is already looking forward to a major boost that is expected to arrive with the influx of dignitaries and associated media for next year’s Summit. The G20 Presidency is expected to attract foreign tourists from 20 member countries, international organizations and other invited nations; in addition to 6,500 delegates, the archipelago will welcome 38 world leaders, 60 accompanying ministers and 6,000 members of the press.
“The total expenditure of the delegation during the event will be obtained by hotels, venues, restaurants, vendors, organizers, the MSME industry, tours and travel, tourist attractions, and others,” explains Rizki Handayani, who is Deputy for Tourism Products and Event Organizers at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.
The G20 Summit brings together 20 members, namely Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States (Spain is also a permanent guest invitee). Collectively, these countries represent 85% of the world’s GDP, 80% of global investment, 75% of world trade and 66% of the world’s population. This puts them in a unique position to make lasting change for the planet and its peoples. Indonesia is currently the only G20 representative from Southeast Asia.